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Today Bkk-Post (5)
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<font size=7><b>Crowds gather to catch a glimpse<br>
</font></b><font size=5><i>Traffic chaos and food vendors provide
sideshow<br>
</font></i><font size=3><b>Anjira Assavanonda<br>
</font><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>he siege at the Burmese
embassy rapidly became a spectator event, as people left desks, shops and
vehicles-drawn by the confusion outside.<br>
As the curious gathered to crane their necks and listen to updates on the
radio, vendors quickly moved into Sathorn road selling soft drinks, luk
chin and other snacks.<br>
Business boomed as onlookers fed and watered their curiosity.<br>
With traffic brought to a standstill, long lines of waiting cars, trucks
and buses stretched in both directions, adding to the chaos.<br>
Drivers and passengers left their vehicles and joined the milling
bystanders. Others preferred to wait it out in air-conditioned comfort,
at the risk of overheating their engines.<br>
The disorder spread as far as Silom road, where traffic was also
paralysed.<br>
Spectators jostled for vantage points around the embassy. Some stood
right across the road, but could see little because of the walls
surrounding the complex, while others crowded on the nearest
flyover.<br>
The pillars of the BTS elevated railway, which passes in front of the
embassy, proved a popular shelter, especially when the skies opened up
later in the day and the rain fell in torrents.<br>
Some people tried to enter the adjoining Bayer building, where police had
set up a co-ordination centre.<br>
Police declared the area in front of the embassy off limits to the
public, both for safety reasons and for their own convenience.<br>
The sound of a gunshot caused momentary panic, and people were advised to
lie on the ground for their own safety. Passengers were told to get down
from buses, which were deemed to be prominent and tempting targets. But
there was no evidence of any shots fired at the crowd.<br>
Police were deployed at nearby vantage spots, including the top floors of
the Sirinat building and Srisawasdi building of St Louis Hospital,
opposite the embassy. Ambulances from Taksin Hospital were called in, to
stand by in case there were any injured people at the scene.<br>
One typical spectator said he was on his way home when he heard about the
siege on the radio, and so he just dropped by to see what was
happening.<br>
A woman who came with her 11-year-old son said she lived in a nearby soi,
but she was not upset by the events. There were frequent gatherings
outside the embassy by Burmese activists, she said. This was just another
protest.<br>
"I was on my way home from shopping on Silom, and was quite
surprised when I found the traffic jam-packed. I couldn't get to my home,
as the road was closed off, and had to park my car way down there,"
she explained.<br>
She hoped the chaos would quickly end so she could get on with her life.
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